999 calls every 12 seconds on New Year’s Eve for ambulance crews

Published:09:02Saturday 02 January 2016

Thousands across Yorkshire and the Humber welcomed in the New Year but the region’s ambulance service was working exceptionally with emergencies with 999 calls being recieved every 12 seconds and at one stage during the night.

This year Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust received 1,302 emergency responses over the 12-hour period from 6pm on December 31, 2014 to 6am January 1 2015 (695 of these (53%) were between midnight and 6am).

The busiest time was in the early hours of the morning and between midnight and 4am there were 96 emergency calls to assaults.

New Year’s Day is busier for the most serious type of calls (Red) than last year, with 15 per cent more Red calls between midnight and 8am (445 calls compared to 386 last year).

Many of the calls received have been alcohol-related with large numbers of people celebrating the festivities.

Ben Holdaway, Locality Director at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “As always New Year’s Eve was a busy time for us and we received a high volume of alcohol-related calls, particularly in the early hours of the morning.

“Our community medical units and police and paramedic teams provided valuable support and were able to treat people who had too much to drink or those who had sustained minor injuries without them needing to go to hospital.

“In the early hours of New Year’s Day we received a significant number of emergency calls to patients who had been assaulted while out celebrating the start of 2016. Clearly this is distressing for those directly involved, but it also places extra pressure on us and partner services.

“New Year’s Eve aside, demand for our service continues to increase. So our New Year’s message for 2016 is to remind members of the public to use the 999 service wisely, choose their healthcare options appropriately and help us to ensure our vital resources are available for those with a genuine life-threatening emergency.”